This paper develops a protocol for using a familiar data set on force majeure provisions in corporate acquisitions agreements to tokenize and calibrate a machine-learning algorithm of textual analysis. Our protocol, built on regular expression (RE) and latent semantic analysis (LSA) approaches,...

This paper contributes to the interpretation of the standard of proof in criminal trials in two ways. First, it provides a purely utilitarian explanation as to why there are asymmetric costs associated with false convictions and acquittals. It relies on the fact that noncriminals may engage in...

During the 19th century, markets exploded liberally before the state began to intervene to compensate for undesired social deterioration. In the second half of the 19th century, however, legislation largely locked up itself, except for laws which dealt mainly with technical modernization, such...

Even if contract enforcers are as opportunistic as ordinary traders, a system of adjudication can increase the degree to which contractual obligations on large anonymous markets are fulfilled. Only if arbitrators receive a fixed income, occasional mistakes will not favour the untrustworthy. It...

The manuscript evaluates the Czech transformation process with a focus on phenomenon of private ordering and comments briefly on the law approximation process in the Czech Republic. In the author's point of view, the phenomenon of private ordering has hitherto appeared in the Czech Republic in...

We investigate factors influencing the choice of liability status by the owners of start-up firms. We propose a theoretical model that encompasses risk aversion, as well as differentials across liability states in the cost of capital and tax rates, as reasons why entrepreneurs choose one...

This paper surveys and evaluates the current state of legal reform in Russia. Particular attention is payed to the reform of constitutional and public law, institution building, and legal training. The paper identifies many cases of inefficient legal institutions which indicate some fundamental...

The legal and the economic perspective on a policy proposal are likely to differ far more fundamentally than is commonly appreciated. Economists will impose certain minimal requirements of rationality on the evaluation process, which lawyers routinely violate. Economists will expect the...

Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker acknowledged that empirical studies undercut criticism of punitive damages. Paradoxically, the Court simultaneously expressed concern about jury predictability based on a high and variable punitive-compensatory ratio published in an article by the present authors. The...

The recent move to import empirical results into law and policymaking have introduced challenges related to drawing proper inferences from quantitative studies. The purpose of this essay is to elaborate on three specific cautions on the use of economics experiment results. First, critiques of...